To be with you always
by moonfiretiarasoulaction
Summary: Since "All I want for Christmas is Yuu" I've wanted to start a tradition of romantic Christmas stories. So this year I felt like doing one for Kyuuketsuki-chan to Kouhai-chan or Vampire and Underclassmen. After reading the mysterious eleventh chapter of Vampire-chan and kohai-chan I was inspired to write a short bittersweet conclusion to the story. Merry Chrismas to all.


Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, goes the clock in Sara's modest apartment.

Why do I have to stay here in her living room? She said she wouldn't have much work with the food, but she's been gone for nearly a quarter of an hour now.  
I miss her...

A deep sigh escapes my lungs.

I have been feeling increasingly anxious and listless since the end of summer.  
I try to keep a smile on my face for Sara, but I know she sees right through it.

All of these strange memories keep accumulating in my head and none of them help me one bit towards finding a way to save Sara's life.  
No! I can't weep. I can't let her see me like this!

I quickly wipe my eyes. She might come into the room at any moment.  
In spite of my effort, one drop of sorrow sullies the homely dark green and yellow striped blanket over my bride's kotatsu that is keeping me warm in place of her.

I still don't understand. Who is Mizuki? Who is Ayano? Who was Ichigo?  
And why do they all resemble Sara so much? And who are all those girls Shion dreams about that she said resemble Aoi so much?  
I wish Shion had some answers, but she is as much in the dark about these things as I am.

"Hmmm."

A delicious odor has been filling the entire apartment. Sara is such an amazing cook.  
Ha... I was weeping just a minute ago and now I am smiling like crazy, feeling so in love with my sweet Sara. My heart is racing, and not from withdrawal symptoms.

"Hey senpai," Sara opens the door and shows her heavenly smile to me.  
"Are you ready for our Christmas dinner?" She asks with a gleeful expression and blushing cheeks.

"I've been suffering so much waiting for you and your incomparable cooking, Sara-chan!" I exclaim with a face showing all my emotions without shame. "In future, you should ask me to come when everything is cooked because the past quarter of an hour has been torture."

The smile on her face broadens and she comes into the room with a plate carrying two gratinéd dorias and two glasses of hot sake.

"I think we're allowed a treat. It's a special occasion," She blushes as she places the plate onto the kotatsu in front of me and gets underneath the blanket with me.

"you treat me every day," I murmur while I take in the beauty of my girlfriend.

"That's because I love you so much, Iris-chan."

We lean closer and kiss several times.

I am happy I drank her blood before she started cooking. I want this evening to be about us an not about our horrible fate.

* * *

The doria smells and tastes delicious.

"You are such an amazing cook!" I say after she feeds me some of hers.  
"I wish... I am so happy I fell in love with you," I try to smile.

I was going to say I wished I could eat her cooking every day. But of course, that won't be possible after she dies.

I turn to take another morsel of the savory dish Sara prepared for us, but she takes me by surprise as she so often does and kisses me again.

"Don't be sad," She smiles comfortingly. "I'm not going to die."

I kiss her back with hopefull desire and return her smile, but I say nothing.  
I just look at the old-fashioned little wooden clock going tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.  
Then I realize with a shock that I have listened to that same clock before, with the same sadness in my heart.  
It is strange... That clock didn't use to be here.

"Let's drink to the time you confessed to me at the cultural festival, Iris-chan," Sara says, holding her tulip-shaped sake-glass up.

Perturbed by yet another strange memory I follow her example.  
She giggles melodiously when she sees the strange expression I must be making.

I have never told her anything about these memories, not wanting to bother her with things I didn't understand myself yet. Maybe I should. Maybe if I tell Sara, she might somehow be able to recall something herself that may lead us to uncover this mystery.

"You were so jealous when I was asked to play Julia along Tsubasa-kun, senpai. And I wanted to confess first, but you were so overcome..."

Now I surprise her with a kiss and she kisses me back with her sweet warm sake flavored breath.

"I couldn't keep my love inside anymore. You are all I care for now, Sara-chan. I can't stand to see anybody else close to you. I can't stand anybody kiss you, even if it is only pretend. I feel intoxicated by you. I am drowning in you," I gasp.

She smiles strangely and kisses me again.

"I felt warm and a little embarrassed when you attacked Tsubasa-kun on stage though," She giggles again.  
"I must admit it feels nice to know that I can make you feel like that."

"Don't make me remind that," I blush. I was relieved that he and the principal were so understanding.  
It's a good thing you were able to keep him from falling off the stage. I still don't understand how you were able to do that. He is twice your size."

"Yes," Sara smiles. "As I said: I think it was just adrenaline. I was happy you didn't get into trouble. Probably because it was the only time you ever slipped up."

I kiss her several times and we continue our food and sake while talking and laughing.

* * *

"Let's eat the Christmas cake now," Sara smiles as she gets up and goes back into the kitchen.

I follow her out the door with my eyes and look at the clock again. It's a quarter past eight.  
Why do I remember having seen that clock before? In some past life with another...

"Here's the cake!" Sara cheerfully announces.

Ha! She really looks so cute and beautiful!  
I don't think she has ever looked so beautiful as she does right now in that bright red and green dress she's wearing.

She places the cake in front of us and cuts us both a generous slice. Then she goes into the kitchen and brings tea.

"I know it's not very Christmas-y, but I felt tea was most appropriate with cake," She smiles.

The cake is delicious. I enjoy its sweet and tarty flavor.  
And I try to ignore the fact that I seem to have tasted this cake before, even though she said it was a recipe she had conceived herself for this occasion.

Everything is perfect now.  
Sara is happy spoiling me, even though I should be the one spoiling her. But she is happy and I wish this moment could last forever. I wish to be with her always, exactly like this.

"How old do you think you are, Iris?"She suddenly asks.

I look at her with a blank expression.

"What a strange question," I say. "I am seventeen."

She shows me a funny smile and takes her smartphone. Typing a series of commands she makes it play Tchaikovsky's piano concerto nr 1.

"Let's dance, Senpai!" She boisterously exclaims.

I let her pull me up and we start to twirl around her room  
I had assumed she wanted me to lead, but it is she who is graciously turning us around and around.

"This was the music they were playing in the ballroom on the day we first met," She says.

I look at her in wonder.

"But the day we first met..."

"No," She interrupts me. "This was before that. And it became Mai's favorite piece of music ever since."

"Who is Mai?" I ask, feeling a tremor go through my body as we dance.

Sara giggles.

"I was Mai, silly. And I was Mizuki. And I was so many others... A hundred and twenty-six to be exact.  
But it took me fourteen years to find you.  
You papilio daemons somehow always think you are the ones who choose us. But it was me who chose you from the start. And from then on I didn't want to be with anyone else anymore.  
I am a hundred and forty-two years old, Iris. And you are a hundred and fifty-six."

"Wha... What are you talking about?"

I try to stand still, but she seems to have developed superhuman strength and keeps turning us around in this strange dance.

"I know you have started to remember my past identities for some time now, dear Iris. I've enjoyed all of your different emotions so much. It seems that you love me more and more each year.  
We didn't even reach a year this time, yet you are already completely saturated.  
Of course, it's not the first time this has happened."

"What are you talking about?"

"About our mutually predatious romance, of course," Sara smiles and kisses me.

I don't understand what she is saying.

"Mizuki? Ayano? Who are they?"

"They are parts I played in order to make you fall in love with me over and over again. Every time we complete our cycle I take a new identity to keep things interesting."

"But how?"

"This entire city is controlled by me and my kin. Aoi-chan is one of my children. It is a complex eco-system designed to attract papilio daemons."

I can't believe my ears.  
We stop dancing and we fall down onto her futon.  
Sara giggles as she lands on top of me.

"I am a nepenthes daemon, Iris-chan. And we have been in love with one another for a hundred and twelve years.  
You feed on my blood, which gradually saturates your body with the enzymes it contains to make you taste more delicious. And after a year I, in turn, feed on your blood and you lose every memory of my past selves.  
Then we meet again and I make you fall in love with me all over again and as your love for me grows, your memories gradually return. Making it all the more delightful to be the one who makes you go through all of these wonderful emotions.

And now... " She whispers with a fond look in her eyes." it is my turn to feed."

She pins my arms down next to my body.

"No!" I protest, but I can't escape. Why is she so strong?

"Shion never told me any of this! Why do I have to forget?! Why can't you tell me the truth?! Who are you if not Sara, or Mai, or Mizuki?"

She gives me a passionate kiss and smiles gently.

"Aoi-chan's blood works differently than mine. Shion has a lot of memories that never really happened. She knows nothing of these things. But I have always been the same. You seem to like me like this, Iris-chan. As to my name... Doesn't our entire love-story prove that a rose by any other name smells just as sweet?"

She licks and kisses my throat before she bites and sucks my blood.

It is totally painless. I hope this is how it felt for her whenever I did it. Because it also feels so heavenly.  
I squirm and sigh and whimper, but it feels so good. I feel her suck for a long time. Then she pauses to breathe before she continues.  
She is eating much more of my blood than I ever did of hers... I think.

Why did I suck her blood?

I can't remember.

I start to weep.

"Sara-chan...? Sara-chan... I... "

"Hmm? Don't be afraid, Iris-chan. You will lose consciousness and I will bring you home. In a few weeks, we will meet again."

"I don't want to! I want to stay with you! I don't want to forget you, Sara-chan!"

She kisses my tears.

"That's what you always say, dear Iris-chan. I told you: I'll always be the same. And we always love one another. We will always be together. For the next two hundred years at least."

She continues to suck my blood.

I feel the world spinning around.

Where am I?

What is happening...?

Then... The last hold I have on the world at last slips away from me.

* * *

What time is it?

I look at the clock on the wall and am surprised it is so late.  
But I finally finished writing up the questions for the survey the principal asked me to prepare. I shall leave them on his desk on my way out.  
It was a busy day. I feel so tired.

* * *

The school building looks so empty as I walk through its hallways.  
Most clubs haven't resumed their activities yet since it's only the first week of the new year. But I think I hear music.

It is Prokoviev I believe, "The Prince finds Cinderella". It is coming from the music room.  
I peek through an opening in the door.

A small, slender girl with long black hair is dancing around on her own to the Last Waltz.  
I don't think I've noticed her before.

Or maybe I have. I should have, since the school year is almost over. I don't think she would stand out much to others, but there is a certain quality to her.

It can't be...

I suppose she must be...

But... I really don't want a bride.

Just as I move to leave my position she sees me and screams.

"I apologize!" I hurriedly exclaim as I come in. "I was just passing by and heard the music. I didn't mean to spy on you. I am the student council president."

"I...I know who you are," She hesitatingly interrupts me. "How can I not?"

"Yes," I smile. "I suppose you must. Even if I must shamefully admit that I don't know you."

"Oh... I suppose that is just my own fault," She blushes sweetly. "I haven't been very outgoing. But I plan to do better."

I don't know why I close the door behind me.

"Do you like to dance?" I ask as I come closer.

"Yes. Very much. But I haven't been able to do it properly, because I haven't had any friends to dance with. I dance here after I finish cleaning up for the music club."

"They have you clean up for them?" I frown.

"Yes, but I don't mind."

"You should."

We stare at another in awkward silence for a minute or two.  
Why do I feel so captivated by this girl?

I walk to the audio-case and press the buttons on the cd-player until the duet of the Prince and Cinderella starts.

"Would you like to dance with me?" I smile and hold out my hand.

"A... Are you sure?" She blushes.

I nod.

"I would very much like to dance with you," I say.

"Thank you," She says with a bashful, but pleased smile.

She slowly approaches me.  
She is very cute. Why haven't I noticed this girl before?

"I am Kurahasi Aki," She bows with a shy smile. "I would very much like to continue this dance with you."


End file.
